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City Council approves new waterfront park

The vote for the $2.65-million park was necessary to seal a deal to secure state funding for the Salvador Dali Museum.

By MELANIE AVE
Published May 23, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG -- The City Council held an emergency meeting Monday and unanimously approved a deal to build a new waterfront park as part of a deal worked out last week between Mayor Rick Baker and Gov. Jeb Bush to secure state funding to relocate the Salvador Dali Museum downtown.

The city had already planned to build the $2.65-million park and received approval from the Pinellas County Commission in April to pay for it through a special financing district downtown that will also fund improvements to the Pier and Mahaffey Theater.

Still, Baker used the park to ease the governor's concerns about the $4-million lawmakers had budgeted for the museum.

The governor agreed to abandon his plans to veto the funding for the new museum after Baker promised him the city would build the 7.3-acre park on the site of an asphalt parking lot east of the former Times Arena at Bayfront Center and across the street from the Dali's new home. The acreage is just north of Albert Whitted Municipal Airport.

The museum still must raise $4-million on its own to secure the state dollars. Museum director Hank Hine said $3.4-million has been raised so far.

Baker said the city's pledge to build the park was necessary because the source of the money approved by the Legislature is reserved for land conservation not cultural arts.

"This would be the largest expansion of the downtown waterfront park system in close to 100 years," he said. "That's very significant."

Construction on the park at Lot 51 could begin as early as next year. The lost parking spaces will be replaced with an addition onto the existing Bayfront Center parking garage.

Council members approved the park plan contingent on the Dali's ability to secure the state funding but several said they want the park regardless.

"I would support this park whether it's part of the Dali or not," said council member John Bryan.

The Dali museum is located in a 30,000-square-foot former warehouse on the waterfront at Third Street S in a building that is not hurricane-proof. Voters supported a referendum to move the museum to the city-owned Bayfront Center in November 2004.

The total cost of the new 50,000-square-foot museum is between $20-million and $25-million. In addition to the state funds, the museum will raise at least $12-million from private sources and by selling its current building to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.

Council member Bill Foster said citizens should be aware that the museum still has money to raise before it can move.

"I don't want to give any false impression that this is a slam dunk, a done deal," he said. "Your governments are not going to do it all."

[Last modified May 23, 2005, 17:05:03]